GQ on the De Niro influence
Thanks to Sammie323's Effluvia for the scans.

I guess Tom Carsons just want to have fun? Aww, poor thing.

Thanks Arnzilla, very interesting comments and analysis.

Very interesting, indeed. Carsons has always admired Leonardo's ability, even calling him a genius at one time. He's right, of course. I do get what he's saying, though. Even though Leo was fantastic in The Departed, I enjoyed his looser form in Blood Diamond more. I think if he gets a role where he's free to just open up and let go, completely let go, sort of like Kate Winslet was able to do in Eternal Sunshine, he'd just blow everyone off the screen. He's got that kind of brightness. The talent is there and what's wrong with being a "real" movie star who entertains the audience, anyway? I think that's why Leo got nominated for Blood Diamond over The Departed, to be honest.

no, I don't think so :lol: The roles in BD and TD are completely different; a lot of people seem to prefer his performance in TD, and a lot of people as well think he was excellent in both. So why didn't he get nomm'ed for TD instead of BD? Probably because WB lobbyied him for leading in BD specifically and he had the "bad" luck of giving two great perf. in the same year in the same category.

Hard to say Courtney....but I still think a lot of people in Hollywood (esp old Hollywood) probably preferred his work in BD because it's really more of an old fashioned actor/star turn. Younger Hollywood is different. I suspect they went for The Departed more, but who knows for sure? Personally, his Blood Diamond performance kind of blew my mind. :shock: